Camping Weekend workouts

This past weekend was the best weekend I've had in a while - full of camping, friends, mountain biking, and a bit of running! The trails at Jackrabbit Mountain are great - set up kind of like a pinwheel, where there's a center loop with little side loops that extend out from the central (white) loop. It makes it easy to make a ride as short or as long as you want since each loop is just 1-3 miles each. The connector trail between the campground and the trailhead is about 1.4 miles one way.

Saturday a.m. ride - 11.16 mi @ 8.6 mph
First ride I did was Saturday morning (while it was still cool-ish) - Scott took D out in the Wee-Hoo and I followed on my bike. I did most of the loops (green, blue, red, and yellow) meeting Scott & D on the central loop as I went around, and made a nice long(ish) ride before it got too hot. The trails are super fun, not too technical, not too much climbing, but twisty and flowy with some nice views of the lake nearby.

Saturday a.m. run/walk - 1.87 mi 
When we got back from biking, D wanted to go out on his bike so I followed him out on the trails for a couple of miles on the connector trail with his friend Cecilia & her mom who were hiking.

Saturday afternoon ride - 7.68 mi @ 8.8 mph
Afternoon ride with a couple of friends, and boy it was hot. We didn't spend very long out on the trails but it was nice to get in a few more miles for the day.

Sunday a.m. run - 7.13 mi @ 10:13/mi 
Yay, trail run! I basically woke up, threw on running clothes, and headed out from camp before 7am. Felt so nice to be out early, and the trails were still pretty empty at this point. I just ran the white (center) loop + the green loop to keep it simple and so I could make it back in time for breakfast at camp.

 

Morning trails

Sunday a.m. run/walk - 2.89 mi

Once again, D wanted to go out biking on the trail so we did the entire connector trail from camp out to the trailhead and back. He almost pooped out, but some encouragement and promise of snacks was the motivation he needed to keep going. He gets moving pretty quick out there on some parts, so I was definitely having to run several sections!

Sunday night ride - 7.18 mi @ 8.5 mph

Group went out after an early dinner for a night ride - started in the early hours of sunset, hung out with some beers on SABA Beach (one of the trails, built by the Southern Appalachian Biking Association, goes out to a nice sandy beach area with nice views of the lake), and then biked back to camp in the dark with our headlamps. So cool! I've done one or two other night rides before, so I'm not very experienced, but it is a lot of fun, especially on these trails that I feel like I know pretty well and aren't too difficult. 

Family night ride!

Not too shabby. 

Monday held no formal exercise, but I hit 10,000 steps just in all of the unpacking activities that ensued once we got home. Definitely going to sleep well tonight!